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PC Games (Games)

Spore Patch Nearly Lets Creatures Into Other Games 60

Posted by Soulskill from the universal-elf-care dept.
Dalambertian writes "The release of Spore's Patch 5 lets players export their creatures (and soon vehicles and buildings) in Collada format. This includes textures, bump mapping, and rigging for animation. Maxis developer Ocean Quigley recently posted a nice tutorial for getting said creatures into Maya, and other 3D packages are soon to follow. This could have a huge impact on the games industry, and the indie games scene in particular. Unfortunately, if the patch falls under the usual EULA, then any legitimate use of the art assets outside of the Spore community becomes impossible. EA is apparently just teasing us with its taste-but-don't-swallow policy, and at present it's not clear whether the genius that came out of Spore's development will ever truly be accessible to the game dev community."
Lord of the Rings

Journal Journal: [Beloved] A Spiritual Journey

Journal by johndiii


And the world cannot be discovered by a journey of miles,
no matter how long,
but only by a spiritual journey,
a journey of one inch,
very arduous and humbling and joyful,
by which we arrive at the ground at our feet,
and learn to be at
Lord of the Rings

Journal Journal: [Beloved] Talking to Grief

Journal by johndiii


Ah, Grief, I should not treat you
like a homeless dog
who comes to the back door
for a crust, for a meatless bone.
I should trust you.

United States

Submission + - Believing in Medical Treatments That Don't Work

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes: "David H. Newman, M.D. has an interesting article in the NY Times where he discusses common medical treatments contradicted by the best available evidence e.g. for decades doctors have administered "beta-blockers" to heart attack victims although studies show that the early administration of beta-blockers does not save lives; patients with ear infections are more likely to be harmed by antibiotics than helped — the infections typically recede within days regardless of treatment and the same is true for bronchitis, sinusitis, and sore throats; no cough remedies have ever been proven better than a placebo; back surgeries to relieve pain are, in the majority of cases, no better than nonsurgical treatment; and knee surgery is no better than sham knee surgery where surgeons "pretend" to do surgery while the patient is under light anesthesia. Newman says that treatment based on ideology is alluring "but the uncomfortable truth is that many expensive, invasive interventions are of little or no benefit and cause potentially uncomfortable, costly, and dangerous side effects and complications." The Obama administration's plan for reform includes identifying health care measures that work and those that don't and there are signs of hope for evidence-based medicine: earlier this year hospital administrators were informed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that beta-blocker treatment will be retired as a government indicator of quality care, beginning April 1, 2009. "After years of advocacy that cemented immediate beta-blockers in the treatment protocols of virtually every hospital in the country," writes Newman. "the agency has demonstrated that minds can be changed.""
Biotech

Submission + - What do Bird Feathers and Beer Foam Have in Common (yale.edu) 1

Submitted by
Rational Egoist
Rational Egoist writes: "Researchers at Yale University have found that some of the brightest colors in bird feathers are created through structures similar in origin and composition to that of beer foam. Unlike with most colors in nature — which are produced by pigments — the bright blue colors of Bluebirds and Blue Jays are actually produced by sponge-like nanostructures. These structures are formed in quite the same way as beer foam. From the article: "[Researchers] compared the nanostructures to examples of materials undergoing phase separation, in which mixtures of different substances become unstable and separate from one another, such as the carbon-dioxide bubbles that form when the top is popped off a bubbly drink. They found that the color-producing structures in feathers appear to self-assemble in much the same manner. Bubbles of water form in a protein-rich soup inside the living cell and are replaced with air as the feather grows.""
Censorship

Submission + - Phoenix Police Seize PC's of a Critical Blogger

Submitted by logicassasin
logicassasin writes: From the article found here — http://carlosmiller.com/2009/04/02/phoenix-police-raid-home-of-blogger-whose-writing-is-highly-critical-of-them/

"In what should send a frightening chill down the spine of every blogger, writer, journalist and First Amendment advocate in the United States, Phoenix police raided the home of a blogger who has been highly critical of the department.

Jeff Pataky, who runs Bad Phoenix Cops, said the officers confiscated three computers, routers, modems, hard drives, memory cards and everything necessary to continue blogging.

The 41-year-old software engineer said they also confiscated numerous personal files and documents relating to a pending lawsuit he has against the department alleging harassment — which he says makes it obvious the raid was an act of retaliation."

Read an Arizona news article on the raid here: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/03/19/20090319copsblog0319.html
Earth

Submission + - Large ice shelf expected to break from Antarctica (cnn.com)

Submitted by
MollyB
MollyB writes: ""A large ice shelf is "imminently" close to breaking away from part of the Antarctic Peninsula, scientists said Friday, reported by CNN. Satellite images released by the European Space Agency on Friday show new cracks in the Wilkins Ice Shelf where it connects to Charcot Island, a piece of land considered part of the peninsula. The cracks are quickly expanding, the ESA said. Scientists are investigating the causes for the breakups and whether it is linked to global climate change. The Wilkins Ice Shelf — a large mass of floating ice — would still be connected to Latady Island, which is also part of the peninsula, and Alexander Island, which is not, said professor David Vaughan, a glaciologist at the British Antarctic Survey."
The article goes on to point out "If the ice shelf breaks away from the peninsula, it will not cause a rise in sea level because it is already floating, scientists say. Some plants and animals may have to adapt to the collapse.""
Privacy

New Law Will Require Camera Phones To "Click" 1235

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the pointless-wastes-of-time dept.
An anonymous reader writes "A new bill is being introduced called the Camera Phone Predator Alert Act, which would require any mobile phone containing a digital camera to sound a tone whenever a photograph is taken with the phone's camera. It would also prohibit such a phone from being equipped with a means of disabling or silencing the tone."
Image

RAF Ordered to Shoot Down UFOs 21

Posted by samzenpus from the you-come-in-peace-you-leave-in-pieces dept.
Pilots in the RAF have fired upon unidentified objects without success since the 1980s, according to Nick Pope, who used to run the Ministry of Defence's UFO project. "There was a faction in the MoD who said 'We want to shoot down a UFO and that will resolve the issue one way or another. We know of cases where the order has been given to shoot down - with little effect to the UFO," he says. The MoD refused to comment. While not making the best first impression on our alien visitors, this policy assures that the British won't end up in a cookbook.
Education

A Teacher Asking Students To Destroy Notes? 931

Posted by Soulskill from the learn-until-the-test dept.
zwei2stein writes "I found this question with far-reaching implications in the off-topic section of a forum I frequent: 'My economics teacher is forcing us to give up all of our work for the semester. Every page of notes and paper must be turned over to her to be destroyed to prevent future students from copying it. My binder was in my backpack, and she went into my backpack to take it. Is that legal?' Besides the issue with private property invasion, which was the trigger of that post, there is much more important question: Can a teacher ask a student not to retain knowledge? How does IP law relate to teaching and sharing knowledge? Whose property are those notes?"
Space

Mars, Mercury May Have Formed From Earth and Venus 73

Posted by kdawson from the brothers-under-the-skin dept.
goran72 sends along a report on a radical new theory of planet formation that suggests that Mars and Mercury were formed from the scraps of Earth and Venus. The theory has testable predictions — for example that the compositions of the rocky inner planets should be more similar than the current theory of planet formation would have them.

Comment Re:A Great Disturbance in The Force (Score 1) 539

by cudjo (#21053125) Attached to: Radiohead May Have Made $6-$10 Million on Name-Your Cost Album
Wouldn't that be better put "A Great disturbance in the Farce?" Last time I checked the RIAA has little credibility except in one jury case against a crazy woman. God bless her by the way, hopefully she can get an appeal for lack of a defense and try again...

At least Darth Vader could choke you from across the table for a 'lack of faith.'
The Courts

Submission + - Judge bars RIAA prez from testifying in P2P case (arstechnica.com) 3

Submitted by Eskimo Joe
Eskimo Joe writes: A federal judge surprised observers in the Captiol v Thomas file-sharing trial today by barring RIAA president Cary Sherman from testifying. 'After a brief recess this afternoon, plaintiffs' counsel Richard Gabriel and defendant's counsel David Toder made their cases before the judge as to the relevance of Sherman's testimony. Toder argued that Sherman's testimony was not relevant to the question at hand, the fact of whether Thomas was liable for copyright infringement. Gabriel said that Sherman would be able to tell the jury why this case was significant, and more importantly, describe the harm the RIAA believes piracy has caused to the music industry. "I don't want to turn this case into a soap box for the recording industry," Toder argued in response.' Testimony wrapped up today with closing arguments expected Thursday morning.
User Journal

Journal Journal: Saddam Offered To Leave Without A Fight

Journal by cybermage

One month before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Saddam Hussein offered to go into exile in exchange of $1 Billion. Contrast that with the Bush Administration's current request for another $195 Billion to continue the war.

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The first rule of intelligent tinkering is to save all the parts. -- Paul Erlich

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